1. Field of the Invention.
The invention relates to permanently attached needle guards or sheaths.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
contaminated blood from infected persons is a common source of HIV and HBV virus infecitions in health care workers. (See Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report, Jun, 24, 1988, Vol. 37 No. 24, pp. 377-388). Infection control must focus on needle safety, the appropriate use of gloves and immunizations whenever available. Although aseptic procedures and gloves protect such workers, these cannot uniformly prevent needle-stick injuries with contaminated blood.
Needles and needle/syringe combinations are now almost routinely sheathed in tapered or non-tapered, closed or open end, rigid plastic sheaths which are discarded after the needle is exposed. After use, no attempt is made to resheath the needle because too many needle-stick injuries result. Instead, the needles, butterfly assemblies, infusion sets, syringe/needle combinations or double-ended needles from vacutainer systems are disposed as soon as possible into rigid safety containers which may, or may not, be readily available.
The accordion needle sheath developed by Peters in Great Britain and described in International Patent Application Number: PCT/GB86/00194 filed 8 Apr., 1986, has not achieved popular use, apparently for three reasons:
(a) it is relatively expensive to manufacture, owing to the complexity and possible slippage of parts; PA0 (b) the elastic components of the system theoretically work against resheathing the needle; and PA0 (c) the user muse use his fingers perilously close to the tip of the needle to sheath or resheath. PA0 (a) proximal attachment of the slit sheath would require too many modifications of standard needle hubs, thus precluding manufacture in quantity for all kinds of needles or needle/syringe assemblies. PA0 (b) when unhinged, the sheath might be awkward to use especially with butterfly and vacutainer systems.
A slit, but rigid and hinged plastic sheath developed in Sweden (Sweden Application Number 8505880-8 filed Dec. 12, 1985) has not achieved popular use, apparently for two reasons:
The instant invention combines the elasticity of the durable elastomeric tubing now available with the slit by means of which one can expose or resheath the needle, to form a permanently tethered needle sheath which is an inexpensive, adjunct to needle safety wherever rigid steel needles are employed to withdraw blood or give injections, especially into veins.
This invention relates to permanently tethered needle sheaths made of elastic and rigid materials through which slits are made to expose and safely resheath hollow needles used for drawing blood or administering intravenous medications. One object of this invention is to provide a needle guard which will minimize the risk of "needle-stick" injuries to medical personnel and other persons after blood specimens or tissue fluids potentially containing infections agents, especially AIDS and serum hepatitis viruses, have been withdrawn from individuals requiring tests or treatment. A further object of this invention is to provide a useful, safer needle sheathing system which can be produced at minimal cost to the manufacturer, as well as the user.